But renewable power also fell marginally in April to June 2016 compared to the previous spring, to just below 25% of the mix as a result of reduced wind speeds and rainfall which affected wind turbine output and hydropower.

The gap left by coal was filled by gas, which generated 45% of the UK’s electricity this spring – up from 30% the previous year. Overall, low carbon sources of electricity – renewables and nuclear – generated around 46% of the total.

In 2015, UK coal production and imports also fell as demand tumbled, the data from Beis shows.

Official figures reveal that greenhouse gases were down 1.3% in the second quarter of 2016 compared to the previous three months, as a result of the large switch from coal to gas for electricity in the spring.

Emissions for the year ending in the second quarter of 2016 were down almost 6% on the previous year, once the impact of warmer temperatures was taken into account.

Data from Beis also reveals that by the end of August some 11 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels had been installed across 886,523 schemes from household arrays to huge solar farms.

The figure was up 30% on August 2015, but installation of new capacity has largely stalled in the wake of curbs on subsidies for the renewable power, the figures show.